Rikers must provide more timely info on detainee deaths under NYC bill set to pass

Families whose relatives die at the Rikers Island jails could soon get answers about their loved ones’ final hours more quickly.

The New York City Council is expected to pass a bill Monday that would establish more stringent protocols for the city’s Department of Correction to notify family members and other relevant parties, like attorneys, when a person dies in the agency’s custody. The measure follows repeated calls by families and criminal justice advocates for jail officials to provide more timely information about detainee deaths when they happen.

“It's really important that we're diligent in how we’re defining the protocols that take place once someone has died or when someone's medical condition has caused an extreme deterioration,” said Councilmember Carlina Rivera of Manhattan, who authored the bill.

Relatives of several detainees who died this year at Rikers or shortly after being released told Gothamist they weren't immediately notified when their family members died or had medical episodes, and had to turn to outside attorneys or advocates for help getting answers. But the correction department said it already takes steps to promote transparency around such cases, and at a hearing on the bill in September, the department's First Deputy Commissioner Francis Torres cited concerns about “on-the-ground realities, best practices [and] due process.”

Rivera’s bill would require the jail agency to notify the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as well as the deceased’s defense attorney, the city Board of Correction and the public promptly after a detainee dies. It also sets guidelines for the department to investigate such incidents, provide relevant records to the jail board, respond to its recommendations and issue regular updates on any staff misconduct potentially related to a detainee’s death. Additionally, the bill would establish a “jail death review board” to examine systemic issues that may have caused someone to perish behind bars.

The legislation has 30 cosponsors, making it likely to pass Monday. Rivera and a spokesperson for the Council said the measure would appear on the voting agenda that day.

“Any time there is a death in our custody, the department communicates these events to the media — as well as city and state partners — and we share additional details once we have notified next of kin,” Department of Correction spokesperson Patrick Gallahue said in a statement. Spokespeople for Mayor Eric Adams’ office did not say whether he planned to sign the bill if it passes.

People familiar with the jail agency's inner workings say notifying next of kin about detainee deaths and other incidents isn't always as straightforward as it seems. Marc Bullaro, a former assistant deputy warden who worked at Rikers for roughly 30 years, told Gothamist in April that detainees sometimes provide the wrong address or contact information for family members, meaning agency staff and defense attorneys often have to track down the correct details.

Official data shows more than 7,600 people were locked up in city jails as of last month, with the vast majority awaiting trial. Rikers’ population has ballooned since Adams took office in January 2022, which along with delays in the construction of planned replacement jails in four boroughs will prevent Rikers from closing in 2027 as required under city law.

Rivera said her bill was crafted after reviewing jail officials’ concerns to strike a “middle ground.”

“Not getting the information in a timely manner just really feels undignified,” she said. “These families are deserving of transparency.”